Upcoming presidential elections could lead to more good news for Sri Lanka’s economy – Gihan Cooray

September, 12, 2019

Recovering momentum in Sri Lanka is faster than expected with a steady stream of visitors, despite the recent terrorist attacks earlier in 2019, said a senior executive.

“We are actually seen quite a good recovery. Initially there was quite a downturn actually as expected with the type of event that happen. But fortunately we are seen a growth momentum pick up. Month on month we’re seeing quite a strong rise in the arrivals and we’ve been monitoring the forward bookings compared to, say, the same period last year. We’re happy to see that the trend of forward bookings is actually quite positive,” Deputy Chairman of John Keells Holdings PLC, Gihan Cooray, , told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday(10).

“We’re seeing almost the same level of bookings from the period September to March 2020, so the recovery momentum is certainly quite strong, given the incident that happened” he said.

Sri Lanka’s economy has shown a “fair bit of resilience,” and South Asian country’s economy is in “decent shape” fundamentally, Cooray noted.

“The economy has shown a fair bit of resilience post the incident in April. We’ve seen sort of consumer sentiment being relatively strong ... the fundamentals of the economy are in decent shape and as a result of that we are seen growth momentum in some sectors and the consumer side which has demonstrated recovery after very challenging years.”

The upcoming presidential elections end of this year could also lead to more good news for Sri Lanka’s economy, Cooray further noted.

“Post the election, with further clarity on certain policies and large ticket investments, I think that could be a further catalyst for growth going forward,” he said.